Creator

Agnolo di Cosimo di Marino (Bronzino)

Creation-date

1536-1537

Technique

Painting

Material

Oil on wood

Inventory number

Inv. 338A

Subject-1

Ugolino Martelli

Object-Current-Location

Berlin, Gemäldegalerie

Digital resource author

GrECI Project

Digital-resource-rights holder

University of Oslo (for GrECI project)

Image-number

035a_Id_10

License

CC BY

Description

The painting illustrates how ancient Greek texts could contribute to the creation of a cultured identity among the young aristocrats of the Italian city-states. The book in front of the sitter is a copy of Homer's Iliad, opened to the beginning of Book 9. The painting also contains a copy of Virgil and shows Ugolino's left arm resting on a work by Pietro Bembo, suggesting that the young nobleman had received (or was receiving) a thorough classical and literary education.